


Unspooling the threads

by Starysky205



Series: Helping Fate [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: BAMF Leo Valdez, Butterfly Effect, Code the crow makes a comeback, Fuck Canon, Keith is called Akira through most of this, Leo calls Keith chico in the fondest voice, Leo gets adopted by crows, M/M, come read and find out!, he's also the reason Keith is such a little shit, it's a thing, that's not even a fifth of the plot, the 'names have power' thing is actually respected, the first half of this crazy thing, the reins are in my hands now, updates on sundays!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-14 11:22:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 7,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28669926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starysky205/pseuds/Starysky205
Summary: “Names have power”He used the exact same tone he did when he shared about his own experience in the system, the same tone he used when explaining how to run properly; something urgent, and scarred, and painfully truthful. And he long since proven to be trust worthy, so Akira simply nodded solemnly and promised to keep his name safe.{or, butterfly effects and ambitious crossovers}
Relationships: Adam & Keith (Voltron), Keith & Shiro (Voltron), Leo Valdez & Keith (Voltron), Nico di Angelo/Leo Valdez, implied Adam/ Shiro (Voltron), one-sided Leo Valdez/ Keith (Voltron)
Series: Helping Fate [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2101179
Comments: 9
Kudos: 25





	1. Of unavoidable things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Such a fragile thing, such a fragile one.

Leo Valdez is just shy of 12 years old when he discovers the ichor in his veins as he careens down into the abyss and fear fails to seize him; that isn’t what gives it away, but it does play a huge part in the discovery, the fact that death doesn’t scare him. It has nothing to do with a misplaced belief that he’s immortal, as he’s yet to know his connection to those who are; but rather a cold acceptance, a resignation to his perceived fate, and maybe that’s why he ends up where he does.

Leo, unlike others who’ve taken this trip downwards, has enough time to notice the castle in the distance, to see the different fields expanding beneath it, the picture gets sharply cut by a purplish black spire, and then he’s in darkness surrounded by a fog-like substance that impossibly seems to be slowing his descent; he doesn’t remember much after that.

When he wakes up he’s in a pile of dark colored cloth, on a room speckled in whites and black, somehow illuminated by slender middle-ages styled torches with green fire… Leo does a double take, rubs his eyes, gets to his feet, paces a little, looks again and, no, the fire’s still green. This pattern of black-white-green persists throughout the entirety of the house he finds himself in, a building of black stone walls, heavy doors, and furniture Leo’s not entirely convinced isn’t made out of actual bone.

He doesn’t look through any of the three closed doors in the hallway, attention drawn instead to the slightly ajar door at the end, from it three very distinct voices can be heard; one is high-pitched and almost loud enough to be understood even at this distance, the other is even and melodic with exhaustion, the third is raspy and paused. Leo walks forwards.

It’ll always be hard to describe properly, the room with the infinite colorful strings, as he is one of the very few beings alive to see its truth other than its users; in the middle of the room, three figures masterfully weave the strands into place, a dance older than time itself, this Leo can tell from the moment he steps foot inside the room that first day. Strangely, and against all rules that may be, and all that he will find himself to be, the room welcomes him in; strangely, and yet obviously, as nothing is ever not predetermined, even when not everything manages to happen.

Which, granted, is a hard concept to grasp, but Leo’s a little… out-of-touch, when it comes to simpler ways to explain things.

That first day, he watches mesmerized for an entire 10 minutes, then notices something, and doesn’t realize he’s pointed it out loudly, until three faces turn to him, hands never stopping their actions. They know who he is, and what he’s meant to become, his presence is not what surprises them; he instinctively knows who they are, even if the name doesn’t exist in his head yet, that doesn’t surprise them either.

What makes them turn is the way the strings react, the way they seem to curl around him, shining slightly brighter, and telling him things he’s not supposed to know; even if he doesn’t understand that’s what’s happening right then. The fates turn again, matching smiles on all three faces, and speak up as one.

“Join us then”

And despite how unsettling this whole thing has been, Leo does.

He learns their names the same moment he learns just how powerful such things are; and he learns how to be careful in tandem. He does them by initial, much to their joint amusement, and that is another thing he has to learn, how they express emotions.

Lady C, the spinner, is the most playful, lady L, the allotter, is the chattiest, and lady A is the most mature; they’re all technically the same age, if age is a thing that could be applied to beings such as them, but take the appearance of old woman, young adult woman, and little girl respectively. Leo tucks all this information away as he grows into his own role; but they’re not the only deities he meets on his time there.

The nymph of the Phlegethon is a no-nonsense sort of person, and an extremely strict teacher; as Leo’s blood makes him target to monsters, particularly this close to the pit, they have no option but to be. At first Leo loathes them, as they force him to use his fire without fail, but lady A says he has to be able to defend himself if he wants to visit the surface; it’s part of his role technically, but him having that role at all could easily change if he doesn’t follow the right steps.

So he trains until he reeks of sulfur and ash, until he stops repressing the heat beneath his skin, until covering himself entirely in flames is as easy as breathing. He’s also given a weapon and someone to train with; they tried many before the hammer, but in the end blood pulled the way it was always meant to. 

The unnamed spirit who teaches Leo everything about fighting with a hammer is a bit weirder to interact with than the deities, if only for how human they are; they only speak in Spanish, which was a little weird to get back to after the last three years without practice. Still, Leo takes to using the hammer a lot easier; and eventually he learns to combine both things effectively.

Finally, and inevitably, he gets to go to the castle, to be introduced under his new title, to the rulers of the place. Lady L insists that he’s lucky for he’ll get audience with both rulers, mostly, Leo feels weary; a feeling that stays as he goes through the proper curtseys and listens to the triad of voices come from the triangle that hangs from his neck as they introduce him as Κοράκι.

He’s nothing if not proud of the name, if only for what it means in context; he’s their messenger, their spy, and their representative. He’s guided into the tower where all corvids reside for the last part of his training, and though his title comes mostly out of necessity, he still finds himself adopted into the murder.


	2. Of feathered wings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something changes, something doesn’t.

It takes two weeks, according to his feathery co-workers, for something to happen that allows Leo to prove himself worthy; in the meantime, he gets himself accustomed to his new... family. The youngest of the murder, a small bird he named Code when she was the fastest to pick up on his Morse lines, and who keeps the name despite the whole murder now communicating through the code, has taken to following Leo around like a shadow; when she isn’t guiding Leo through the Underworld.

It’s in one of those days, where Code flies overhead and crows at Leo to follow in a too happy tone, and Leo hurries after with a grin on his lips; that is until he sees them. Code spots them a little later landing on a spire as she joins Leo in watching them, living who have traveled in search for something; Leo lifts the triangle into his left eye and confirms what he’d suspected, souls marked by prophecy.

He extends his arm and whistles once, Code dives towards him and sets herself in the offered perch, and then they’re swallowed by the shadows. He’s already kneeling by the time the shadows settle him on his destination, and the Underworld king calls his title with an interested tone.

“Three living my lord, wrapped in my ladies’ string”

The god hums.

“Lift you head Koráki”

Leo does and finally gets a good look at his ruler, because for all intents and purposes he counts as an Underworlder, and has an odd sort of reaction to him; something soft and fragile shapes in his chest, as it whispers ‘not quite’. The god looks at him evenly, and then waves the long list in his hands away.

“Which souls are visiting?”

Leo swallows, unsure if his king knows of the slight that’s been done; but he’s dutiful if nothing else.

“Two demigods and a satyr, one is a child of the strategist, the other is a child of the sea”

The god smiles, and Leo feels pride ripple inside him because he’s clearly pleased.

“Stay hidden as they talk with me, you may just earn your first assignment”

Leo bows his head back down in what he knows will be read as gratitude, hiding the beaming grin that’s shaped on his lips; Code, who’s a smart bird, settles on the back of his neck, and the shadows swallow him once more.

His title is called again, after a sharp back and forth between his king and the sea’s spawn, he doesn’t pry even as he heard it clearly, only steps out of the shadows as he’s called, Code perched on his right shoulder. He takes a moment to look at the three beings in front of him, trying to connect their features to what he knows of their souls; they’re older than him, and look unsettled by either the castle, or the whole Underworld, Leo can’t pin point which.

Blue eyes stare at him warily, which is fair, he’s taken to wearing a cloak to look a little less human, the dark cloth glimmers purple under the right light; having nothing the color of his own soul, he’d picked one the color of the one that often danced with it. It’s the one soul he can’t read, despite all his training and effort, because of how heavily protected it is; but Leo knows he’s meant to meet them, just like he’d known about meeting the three in front of him now.

He bows towards his king again, not kneeling fully as he’s not supposed to do so in front of humans.

“My lord?”

Hades, and Leo is overly careful not to let the names slip out of his mind, but allows himself to think them because forgetting them all together would be worse; Hades gives an icy look to the sea child, before looking back to Leo.

“I have a task for you”

It was an easy enough request, returning a soul to the world of the living, particularly one that wasn’t meant to be dead. That doesn’t make returning Sally Jackson to that man, whose soul had made Leo feel nauseous, any easier; but he took particular glee on just how short his string was getting.

He wished her good fortune, pressing three fingers to the triangle hanging proudly from his neck, and sneaked away before calling Code and letting her take him back to the Underworld, back home. 


	3. Fires dancing 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Given direction, he finds purpose.

The next time Leo gets to be on the surface it’s as a full fleshed envoy, a word he coins from Phlegethon, who he still sees in order to keep his abilities sharp, much like he does with no-name the hammer tutor; it does a nice job of simplifying Leo’s role. Simplifying, but not actually being completely correct, which was why Koráki was way better, and what Leo was sticking by.

His duty on the surface is a little trickier this time, he needs to make sure a certain soul deeply wrapped in his ladies’ strings actually survived long enough to fulfill their destiny; and for this, he has to go back to hell. Leo has a long, tedious, history of running and being caught, so to put himself in the beast’s nest goes against every nerve on his system, but he’s nothing if not dedicated; and this, being Koráki, it drives him like nothing else.

The good news is that he finds his target nearly instantly, the bad news is that the boy he’s supposed to be keeping away from danger for however long is, for lack of a better word, a feral child. His name is Akira, and he’s sharp edges, and rough words; a small inferno coiled tightly in the shape of a boy.

Only, Leo’s never, not once in his life, gotten a burn, fire strumming his veins, not how it does with Akira; Leo’s fire is a lot more dangerous, because it’s not human. Akira is smart, smart enough to realize Leo’s immunity to him, and that plays into favor, because the boy takes to following him around like a shadow.

He tries to get on Leo’s nerves, the little shit, but he’s mastered the craft of putting on an unimpressed face to cover his actual reaction; Leo thinks the guy is a riot, and can’t wait to see how he reacts to being a half-blood. He can only tell that much, as Akira isn’t tied to Leo’s particular bloodline, nor the one similar to it; no satyrs to avoid, and no trips to visit the mother wolf in the future.

Still, Leo used Akira’s interest to his advantage, by giving the boy pointers for stealth, and explanations for why he fails at his attempts to antagonize Leo. It takes only two weeks for Akira to master the art of sneaking around, so it follows that he’d wound up on his back in front of Leo; he had to actually fall on instinct to dodge.

Akira groaned loudly.

“I thought that would work for sure”

Leo smiles, feeling a weird sense of pride, even as they boy turns impossibly violet eyes towards him, sitting up.

“It worked on the nuns and the clerk at the corner store”

He’s glaring at Leo, who’s already thinking on what to teach him next.

“You’re smart Akira, what’s the difference between them and me?”

The boy blinks, taken aback, and stares at the ground for a few moments.

“You knew I was coming”

Leo smiles a bit wider, exited to finally put his escape plan in motion.

“We go tonight chico”

Akira startles then, looking at Leo like he’s grown a second head, he finds himself rolling his eyes.

“We?”

Maybe he hasn’t been that clear about his fondness for the guy, that can be fixed later.

“Eh, ‘less you wanna stick around for whatever reason”

Akira promptly stands up, and though Leo’s sure the boy’s younger than him, they’re about the same height.

“Tonight”

Leo nods, satisfied at the fierce tone Akira takes.

“Good, you know where to find me”

Slipping away from the orphanage is easy, having to worry about someone other than himself every time hiding is required is a little harder; but Akira’s been paying attention to Leo, so they eventually manage to get to the parking lot he’d been scoping.

There’s an old motorcycle parked near-permanently on a corner, right below a street light that has stopped working, and for whatever reason, a black and brown helmet rests on one of the handlebars, Code appears from above, a ring with keys on her beak, and Leo grins.

“Akira, this my girl Code, come say hello bonita”

Code ruffles her feathers happily and drops into his shoulder, Leo takes the keys from her so she can caw at Akira as requested. To his credit, Akira seems mostly impressed.

“You have a pet crow”

Leo laughs, and Code caws a little louder.

“Not a pet chico, she’s my partner”

Then, as if to prove this, he tries the key in the chair of the motorcycle and it pops open like so, inside, there’s another helmet and some gloves; Leo suspects a little magical intervention, so he puts three finger over his upside down triangle-seeing thingy, and sends a prayer of thanks to his… bosses.

The other helmet is a sleek black, and a little chunkier in appearance than the one in the handlebar, he tossed it to Akira and put on the gloves before popping the seat back down. He put the remaining helmet on with the visor up, and mounted the bike; Akira gave him a look, helmet still in his arms.

“Do you even know how to drive that?”

Leo puts the key in place, kicking the foot up, and grinning as the motor rumbled on the first turn; then decided to issue a challenge in lieu of an answer.

“Last chance to back out chico”

Akira put on the helmet quickly and placed himself behind Leo on the bike, which made him chuckle as he turned, lowering the visor.

“You wanna hold tight, and if you value your life, don’t let go”

Arms wrapped themselves around Leo’s middle, a small gasp that was probably caused by his unnatural temperature, but they didn’t loosen, so Leo grinned and started driving. Code was keeping to their speed easily, unnatural bird that she was, ready for Leo’s signal; but he needed them further away from the city before any of that.

The bike guides him through various streets, motor all but speaking to Leo, which is weird but given that Leo hasn’t been in the surface in a while, he was far from complaining; eventually they reached the open highway, where Leo accelerated and received a soft laugh from Akira at his back.

The sun climbing ever higher made one of the many billboards produce a shadow right into the pavement further up, Leo grinned to himself, signaling to Code and whirling as he hit the brakes. As they slid into the spot, the shadow leapt up and consumed them.


	4. Fires dancing 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Given purpose, he finds connection.

It’s been a whirlwind of information since the dark tendrils spit them into the outskirts of some desert town, but it’s only served to prove Akira he’d been right about there being other things inhabiting the earth, only they weren’t exactly what he thought. Leo’s busy with the machines inside the shack they’d found abandoned, quiet as he works, he’s been like that since they got here; yet to answer any of Akira’s questions.

“That’s cause you’re asking the wrong ones chico”

Akira startles, but Leo isn’t even looking at him, still entirely focused on the machine he’s fixing; and there’s still that hint of similar emanating from him, the same that led Akira to join him in the first place.

“What are you?”

Leo stills, head tilted. Akira swallows.

“What are we?”

The movement re-starts for a few seconds before a rumbling fills the space and the small room lights up. Brown eyes turn to him, glimmering too brightly to be considered human; grin so sharp Akira half-expects him to transform into something else, but Leo doesn’t.

“Half-bloods”

It feels like his ears are buzzing.

“What does that mean?”

Leo turns back around, moving to the next machine over; a thing Akira thinks is called multitasking.

“Part human, part something other”

As if to prove a point, a flame is born on his forearm and travels down to his fingers before dissipating into faint smoke; and Akira finds himself both intimidated, and entranced.

“In my particular case, part god; don’t know about you just yet chico”

On the one hand, the fact that Leo just summoned fire out of nowhere kind of makes him want to believe it, on the other hand…

“Part god”

To his credit, Leo lets out a loud laugh at Akira’s tone, which is probably for the best; whatever the answer, Leo is clearly dangerous.

“Greek god chico, I haven’t been claimed yet, but I’m betting on the god of the forge”

Akira wracks his brain, trying to pin point who Leo’s talking about; but it goes nowhere fast because there’s a loud noise outside, and Leo jumps up and over him before making for the exit. It’s instinct that has him following after, hand going to the pocket where he keeps his blade, the one he’s had since forever.

What he sees outside easily gets rid of any doubt he could’ve had about Leo’s statement, the creature stands menacingly on the sand, two heads, one a lion, the other a goat, fix on Leo, who’s pulling a cube from his pocket and fiddling with it. Akira thinks he’s gonna get himself killed, particularly because he’s soon to realize that the creature’s tail in actually a serpent’s head, and it’s a fucking chimera, holy shit; but just as the creature pounces towards Leo, the cube unravels in a show of light.

The next moment, the creature is on its side, skin smoking, and Leo’s holding a hammer bigger than the lion head like it weights nothing; and it bears noting, that said hammer is also covered in flames. And Leo transforms in front of Akira’s eyes, only he doesn’t, he’s still the same height, with the same features, same body shape; still painfully human despite everything about him screaming he’s something else entirely, and he is.

Leo is the brightest star in the galaxy, fire trailing him like a comet tail, devastating like an eruption as he all but dances around the monster; corralling, hurting, killing. Soon there’s golden dust mixed with the sand, and a mismatched pelt atop; Leo makes a weird motion with his hand as his arm catches fire.

“I offer this to the goddess Hestia, to make this a safe home to live in”

The pelt dissolves into more golden dust, and Akira notes the shack glowing a dim red before Leo turns to him grinning.

“Hope you don’t mind the desert chico, we’ll be staying here a while”


	5. Fires dancing 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Too similar to not be repelled, too similar to not be harmonious.

Two years.

Akira gets an entire two years of undivided Leo attention, which includes some long-winded but very informative lessons on Greek Mythology, because ignorance is only bliss when your life isn’t in constant danger. He even gets to learn how to work his way around machines, and how to cook, and about the dangers of humans, or mortals, as Leo calls them; all of which will come in handy when Leo eventually has to leave.

It’s not all that surprising, really, because Leo’s told Akira as much about his job as he feasibly could; which isn’t much, all things considered, but after two years of surviving in the world of demis, Akira understands.

They’ve been through a lot, not just in terms of things attacking them, but also because Leo wants Akira to get an education, so they’ve had to deal with ‘mortals’ a lot more; Akira still doesn’t know how Leo got him inscribed into the local public school, and he’s afraid to ask. It’s not so ridiculous, as sometimes Leo is down-right terrifying, but given his general treatment of Akira, it’s a little bit silly.

The thing about getting Akira into a school is that he now has a new name, one that they picked by going into a gift-shop, and spinning one of those displays with keychains full of common names, and Leo snatching something while it spun. Thus he is now known in school as Keith, which Leo insisted was a good thing, because it meant he’d get used to the name easier if he was constantly being called by it.

And Akira had to get used to the name, it was important that he did; he somehow managed to ask Leo about it, half-expecting some normal reason, because they weren’t technically supposed to be living by themselves as a pair of underage kids. Leo gave him a sharp look.

“Names have power”

He used the exact same tone he did when he shared about his own experience in the system, the same tone he used when explaining how to run properly; something urgent, and scarred, and painfully truthful. And he long since proven to be trust worthy, so Akira simply nodded solemnly and promised to keep his name safe.

Which means, he still refers to himself as Akira in thought, despite growing comfortable with being called Keith, because if he takes too much liking to it, Keith will become his _name_ too, and it’d would all have been moot.

“Does that mean your name isn’t Leo?”

Leo laughs at that, a chirping little sound that spreads over Akira like warmth, and transforms Leo from mysterious entity into barely-teenage boy.

“Leo’s my given name, but my ladies have named me Κοράκι”

Akira’s also been learning Ancient Greek, after pleading with Leo for the first week, with help from both the demigod, and every book on the language the public library possessed. They didn’t have the kind of money to get Akira a teacher on a dead language; but thankfully, Leo said he’d have a solution to the issue by the time he came back from this job.

“Should be a quick run, really, I’m not actually supposed to partake in the current power struggle”

Akira frowned.

“What does that mean?”

Leo smiled softly, reaching out to ruffle his head; they’ve both been getting re-acquainted with physical contact, if only so they’d both stop jumping every time someone so much as bumped into them.

“Sometimes you gotta play background character to someone else’s hero story chico”

Akira huffs.

“You know, if you’re gonna keep calling me that I’d like to know what it means”

Leo laughs again, and again Akira feels warm all over.

“It means boy in Spanish”

Akira blinks.

“How many languages do you speak?”

Leo rolls his eyes, but he’s clearly still amused.

“Just the three”

A sharp caw cuts the moment in half, and Leo nods like he’s been talked to, before he gives Akira a tenser smile.

“Keep yourself safe Akira”

And before he can process the fact that this is only the second time Leo’s used his name, the asshole stretches his arm for Code to land on and disappears into the shadows. And Akira is alone once more.

Sinking down to the Underworld is like coming home after a day working under direct sunlight on the most humid of summers, and finding your home to be cool and the sofa more comfortable than ever; and after two years living in the desert, Leo knows what he’s talking about. Technically, cold is not good for Leo, ever burning flame that he is, but the Underworld’s cold is different from the freezing one Leo’s been told to be wary of; which makes sense given it’s not a place meant for discomfort, not the castle, and not anything other than the punishment fields.

Most pointedly, sinking into the Underworld feels like coming home, because to Leo it is exactly that, even as he calls the shack in the desert by that name as way to maintain its blessing; this is Leo’s home.

Code has him appearing in the throne room, as she did the last two times Leo’s been called to fulfill his duty; bowing his head as the walls shape fully around him, and listening two voices discussing in a language he sometimes understands, one belonging to the Underworld’s king. It takes him a few minutes to realize neither of the entities has realized he’s there, which would be okay, if Leo could talk himself into lifting his head; Code, in tune with Leo in the most instinctual of ways, decides she’s had enough of his indecision and crows very loudly, making the discussion stop.

“Koráki”

Leo lowers his head a little more.

“My lord”

Hades, kinder than any mythos will have him appear, uses his powers in such a way that Leo knows when to lift his head without words; so he does, and for a moment sees double. And then his heart trembles as eyes search futilely for what he normally so easily sees, fingers itching for his triangle necklace; his body has a mind of its own, dropping down on one knee in front of this soul he can’t read, but one he knows.

A contradiction that brings him a memory, lifelines floating around a room, particularly a pair, and of that pair, the one that wasn't his.

Purple dark but glowing, dancing around copper, closer and closer but never colliding. And Leo feels irrefutably mortal, as he looks up at the boy he's been waiting to meet since he fell that first time; and his soul sighs 'finally'.

"My prince"

Is all he can do not to weep in relief, shaken to his bone marrow; the demigod looks conflicted, two parts flustered and one part elated.

"Hi?"

He's younger than he'd been expecting, possibly younger than Akira, and most definitely younger than Leo himself. He’s also the single most beautiful boy Leo’s ever laid eyes on, which is a rollercoaster of its own, one Leo pushes aside for later, because Hades is leveling him with an intrigued look; and far be it for Leo to seem unprofessional in front of his ruler.

“You wanted to learn how to shadow travel, Koráki can teach you”

The surprise and excitement that take over the boy’s expression is nothing short of breathtaking, it feels precious, like something he won’t get to witness often. He looks towards Hades, because he knows what is expected of him.

“My lord, I have work on the surface”

Hades give him an appraising sort of look, like he’s been impressed by Leo’s sense of duty, or like he’s seen through Leo and is pleased he’s still putting his orders before his wants.

“I’m sure he’ll be of use”

Leo has a feeling like this is non-negotiable, so he simply nods and stands back up, offering his right arm to the demigod.

“I can certainly try and teach him, if he’d have me”

The demi looks from Hades to Leo in quick succession before taking the arm; Leo grins.

“Rule number one, whatever happens, don’t let go”

He waits until the demigod nods, and then extends his left arm, calling for Code; his corvid partner is quick to land on the offered perch, and then the shadows take over.


	6. Tension

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Distance caused by difference.

Needless to say, shadow travel is nothing like Nico expected it to be, he’s dizzy and nauseous and disoriented, and there’s this really weird feeling over the fact that he wasn’t the one controlling the shadows.

“It’ll be different when you do it yourself”

Nico whirls from where he’d been trying regain his balance, staring at the sand covered ground, to instead look at the fuzzy shape of Koráki; still unable to focus. That’s weird too, Koráki doesn’t feel like Nico’s father did, or like Charon did, or like the spirits in the Underworld did; no, he feels sort of like Percy and his friends, like the people at Camp Half-blood, like-

“A demigod”

Koráki, if that’s even the guy’s name, simply huffs at him.

“You’re not actually supposed to say that so carelessly, much less in English”

Nico blinks at him, and keeps blinking until the blurry yellow turns into desert dunes, and the figure at his side turns into copper skinned boy with short curly dark hair, and gleaming brown eyes; fae-like and human jarringly combined into a single being.

Dangerous, his instincts say.

The boy smiles like the pause between a prank and its execution, like trouble waiting to strike.

Pretty, Nico thinks unbidden.

“So, before we get to the whole shadow thing, I have to warn my charge that we’re here”

Nico blinks.

“Your charge?”

Koráki makes a face.

“Long story”

He then hurries away and into a small house-like structure Nico had missed in his woozy state, which seemingly glistens under the sunlight; it’s weird but Nico can’t actually feel the sun, and he’s not entirely convinced they’re not still in the Underworld, just, a different part of it. A weirdly, empty and desert-like part of it; and it’s the emptiness that really makes Nico think it actually, because the real world is full of danger, and this feels like a pocket of nothing.

His musing gets cut short when Koráki returns, this time with a younger looking boy in tow, one who does not look happy at all with the situation but remains in the doorway together with the Underworld crow as Koráki finishes approaching him. Koráki makes a much shorter reverence, smiling like trouble once more.

“Shall we my prince?”

Let it be known that Akira has no reason whatsoever to feel intimidated by a guy both shorter and younger than he is, even if the guy is a child of one of the three most known gods in Greek mythology; not that it matters, considering Di Angelo has little to no control over his powers, and needs to have Leo teach him how to use the shadows. Sure, Di Angelo is a natural with a sword, unlike Akira who’s trying his best to learn how to defend himself and others but hasn’t had much luck yet; Leo says it’s literally in a demigod’s nature to be good at fighting and running though, so it's to be expected, and therefore means nothing.

When it comes to more magical powers, they’re both at the same level, and that’s only because Akira doesn’t know who their non-human parent was, or even what sort of Parthenon they fell under. He had a few weird puberty mishaps involving fangs, and night vision, and scents; so Leo told him it was probably an animal based deity of some sort, and then said something vague about destiny.

Leo was always vague when it came to destiny, it had taken their entire first year together for Akira to even get him to fess up about being able to see people’s life-threads; because there really were weavers overseeing everything that was meant to be. Leo referred to them as ‘the sisters’, ‘my ladies’, and once, during a particularly amusing re-telling of a myth, ‘my bosses’.

Anyway, the point was, Akira was not intimidated by Di Angelo, no matter how much of Leo’s attention the demi got; it wouldn’t matter in the long run, because Leo had said Di Angelo’s presence was temporary. The fact that Leo insisted on treating Di Angelo like royalty stemmed from the fact that Leo considered himself part of the Underworld, it didn’t mean a thing.

Except, Di Angelo was bothered by it, and eventually asked Leo to stop; and because Leo was great he did. Only, because names were still powerful, and Leo liked to drill this truth in their minds, he settled for calling the demigod ‘ángel’; and that made something inside Akira sour.

“You’re brooding chico”

Akira startles a little, and watches Leo huff in response.

“You need to work on those senses, I don’t want you hurt because you were caught unguarded”

He is, however, very much intimidated by Leo, but he’s probably crushing on the demigod as well, and Leo is terrifying in how much he knows and how well he uses that knowledge; so that’s just to be expected.

“Sorry”

Leo shakes his head, letting out a sigh.

“Not the point, what’s stuck on your head?”

Akira ponders on how to word it so it doesn’t sound stupid, though it is.

"I thought you couldn't get involved"

Immediately he realizes he sounded angrier than he is. To his credit, Leo doesn't look particularly offended; though he could be.

"With this war, sure, but I'm gonna join them eventually"

He says it matter-of-factly, like it's something everyone knows; like it doesn't cause dread to choke Akira.

"And you will join your pride"

That gives him pause.

"My pride?"

Leo makes a face.

"Yeah... I don't really know, but you're like tied to lions? I'm sure it'll make sense one day"

He's not actually supposed to share what he sees of the lifelines, so the fact that he's willing to tell Akira this much helps something settle in his chest.


	7. Inevitability

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That which connects us today will tear us apart tomorrow.

Leo knows that he cannot keep Nico here, as much as he wants to spend as much time with him as they’re allowed to; so he sends him off with a tip about the Styx and pomegranates, though he does explain that he can’t be sure when either will come into play. To his credit, Nico simply accepts this and moves on, and so they say their goodbyes.

And while it’s in Leo’s fate to be thrown into Nico’s path again eventually, letting him go now that he knows him is still hard. But he was able to focus when he longed to meet him, he can do it again now that he simply longs period; Akira, gods bless him, makes this a little easier.

He drags Leo to a junkyard, and shows him a bunch of hover boards, some of which float up when Akira interacts with them; and Leo is hit with a revelation. It’s a little weird how it works.

Demigods, in general, do have an innate ability to see the future, but that is generally restricted to prophetic dreams; Leo, however, gets flashes of it whenever the right trigger happens. He sees Akira, eyes bright and mouth pulled into a grin as he tries putting weight on the hover boards that work, and a shape forms in his mind.

There’s no telling with these sort of things, so he simply says he’s had an idea, and starts the process of taking everything he’ll need back to the shack. Akira, who’s become attuned to him in these two years, is curious and eager to help; so they make quick work of it.

Leo will have to get some treats for Code later, after he gets her to take a rest, Underworld creature or not, she still needs to sleep. So Leo puts her into her little nest and promises to stay in their ‘backyard’ before setting off to work; after so much time without building anything, it’s ridiculously easy to get absorbed.

Time’s never been his forte, much less after spending so long in the Underworld, and when he’s this focused on something, he tends to forget himself. Having someone else there helps a little with this, Akira’s been trained enough by now that he can drag Leo to bed at nightfall without getting burnt; which is an accomplishment in its own right.

“What are you building anyway?”

Akira asks partly because he’s truly curious, but mostly because he’s worried, and not used to Leo pulling away like this; but that’s not a good thing, not when their time together is running out, not when Leo isn’t sure he’ll be able to see the boy again once he’s done with the job.

“A piece of your future”

It’s a testament to Leo’s prowess as a teacher that Akira doesn’t press after that, or ever brings the topic again. Leo is free to indulge himself in what he’s best at for a while longer, until he isn’t.

He feels the stranger before he sees them, a soul so marked by tragedy that their mere presence had a similar effect as nails on a chalkboard; Leo’s not proud to say he tackled them to the ground, but well, instincts are instincts. Granted, he’s understandably upset once he gets a good look at the poor soul who’s under him; turning his anger towards Akira, who’s just standing there.

“ _You brought a mortal here?_ ”

This seems to break whatever spell Akira’s under, because he pales considerably.

“ _I didn’t know he was following me_ ”

Leo huffs, but gets off the body still beneath his own, noting only then that their lines are connected; kind of like a sibling bond but not really. At least there’ll be someone to look out for Akira once Leo’s gone from the picture.

“ _Well talk about this later_ ”

He finally faces the stranger properly.

“Who are you, and why are you in our home?”

As it turns out, the stranger is a man named Takashi Shirogane, who works not only as a pilot for the Galaxy Garrison, but also as a spokesperson; which is how he found himself giving a demonstration to Akira’s class. And something must have happened during that demonstration because Akira wound up stealing the poor man’s car.

What Leo doesn’t expect, but happens regardless, is that they’re both invited to Shirogane’s home, and the man tries to coax both into joining the space military. Which gives Leo the first opportunity to confuse the hell out of someone in what feels like ages; so he takes it with both hands.

“How did you get this place anyway?”

Leo gives his best amused smile.

“I’m afraid that’s above your paygrade soldier”

The way Shirogane’s face morphs is an entire treat, but Leo will not give himself away; he accommodates himself, opting for an amicable tone.

“You’re a smart man, I’m sure you can figure it out”

Akira choses that moment to enter the room.

“What are you talking about?”

Leo smiles at him.

“Your hidden talents”

Akira gets flustered for a second before he looks away.

“It was just instinct”

Time slips from Leo’s grasp again, he finishes his project, a motorcycle that can float, a hover-bike, watches Akira settle further into his role as Keith, and gets Code more used to being distanced from him.

Just in time to slip away himself, no goodbyes, and no traces. He lets it happen, not realizing the difference in the pull.


	8. Lost on accident

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Souls entwined.

There’s pavement against his feet, wind howling at his ears, heart hammering in his chest, there’s flashing lights on the ground, cold on his face. Nico wakes up with a start, the smell of smoke stuck in his nose; he quickly looks around but sees only the dim green glow of Greek fire on obsidian.

The underworld is quiet as usual, nothing out of the ordinary, but Nico can’t shake the feeling of unease that has settled in his bones.

Given that he’s not going back to sleep any time soon; Nico tries to make sense of the dream he had instead. Demigods, according to the very few who still talk to Nico now that he’s been claimed, are known to have prophetic dreams; so he needs to know what it was about.

He’d been running, clearly, from something, but there hadn’t been fear exactly, mostly annoyance and the need to not get caught. There’s also the smell of smoke still lingering despite there being no normal fire, and…

And Nico has a sudden flash of Leo in the back of his mind, like it has something to do with him; so Nico worries a little, sinks into the shadows to grab a pomegranate. The Styx comment had been the key to defeating Kronos, so Nico’s sure this one has just as much weight; and the weight of the fruit in his pocket makes him feel a little more secure.

Maybe he should try going to the desert again, try and see if Leo knows anything of what’s happening now, particularly after such a dream; but he stops himself, unsure how to face him. Not when he could’ve visited sooner, or kept in contact through Iris, or some other third thing.

It’s just that everything got complicated very quickly, and people were dying, and the people at camp though he was a traitor, and he had to help Percy with the whole becoming invincible; and he also had the revelation that his general attraction to Leo is exactly that, attraction.

He pulls the pomegranate off his pocket, inspecting it for something to do with his hands; and wonders about myths and how different they are to reality. He also wonders about Leo, still trying to connect him with any of the gods, and realizes, instead, how little he knows the other despite how deeply he feels for _him_.

He wakes up in a moving bus, motor humming insistently beneath him, face cold from the window he’s leaning into; there’s someone sitting at his left, familiar and not in tandem. Dark skin, but different from Leo’s, something ethereal about her features; there’s instinct clamoring in Leo’s ears, trying to tell him something, but he can’t understand it.

To the right of the dark-skinned beauty is a larger figure, built for combat, instinct clamors again, louder, but Leo is still hopeless for what it’s trying to tell him. His hands go for his chest and finds something sharp under his shirt, glancing at his ride-mates to make sure they’re not paying him attention, he pulls it out.

It turns out to be a necklace, a thick pure black string long enough to pass around Leo’s head, tied to a silver upside-down triangle with a circular hole in the middle; on impulse, Leo takes it to his eye and has to bite his lip not to gasp at what he sees. Lines strewn before him, a myriad of watered down color except for the two nearest to him.

Leo’s mind insists that the dark-skinned beauty is Piper, his best friend, and the warrior looking blonde is Jason, the newest addition to their group. Piper’s line is bright magenta, bold and attention grabbing, just like her his mind quips, Jason’s is a blue so light it may as well be white, and that’s fitting too because he feels like lightning waiting to strike.

That’s not right, he’s Leo’s friend, he shouldn’t feel threatened by him.

Friend?

No.

Leo doesn’t know him.

Leo has been attending Wilderness school with Piper for years.

No.

Leo’s never met her before.

**Stop fighting.**

He was missing something.

No.

He was missing someone.

His head aches, a flash of impossibly green fire, of purple strings dancing too close to copper ones, pale skin turned bluish under dark eyes, black feathers, and the scent of fresh earth.

Oh.

**This is your role.**

Duty.

**Yes.**

Somehow, Leo had a feeling he knew duty better than most.


	9. Author's note

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm crying rn

Due to problems with my laptop, there'll be no UTT update until further notice, thanks for of your patience.


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